by Japheth Omojuwa

Success is predictable and it is intentional. It is essentially about following laid out principles and self-application. It is about going the extra-mile and seeing what others cannot or choose not to see. It is about learning at the foot of those who have gone before us.

The Excellence In Leadership Conference hosted by Daystar Christian Centre starts today in Lagos. Because of the glut in the number of seminars and conferences, one could be forgiven for assuming they are all the same but they are not. I once attended a 3-week Leadership Academy session in 2009 hosted by the same organization. About a month after the sessions, I tried putting what I had been taught to work. I organized a conference in which I was the main speaker. At the end of the day, I deservedly lost N70,000. I don’t know how much that means to you but it was a lot of money for me at the time. Considering the lessons learnt and what happened after, that money turned out courage well invested.

I only needed to remember the lessons I had been taught at Daystar Leadership Academy to pick myself up again. I looked at what had made me fail and I realized I had placed the cart before the horse. People don’t pay to listen to you because you rent a beautiful hall and print beautiful flyers; they pay to listen to you because you are worth listening to. That doesn’t just happen. I took a step back, folded my sleeves and got to chasing my dream, this time learning how not to do it by failing earlier. These lessons were mostly from spending 3 extraordinary weeks at the Leadership Academy. The Excellence In Leadership Conference does not have the same focus and depth of the Daystar Leadership Academy but it comes with its own unique perspective and opportunities of looking at various sectors of the society and looking to make a difference in and with them.

I missed out on attending the Conference in 2009 so bought the DVD set containing all the sessions. That investment paid off in a big way because four years down the line, I might as well just summarize the content of the DVD at my session on Media at the conference tomorrow but of course I won’t. It helps to make these points because the best way to recommend a product is to share your own personal experience with it. Like books, I have been blessed with Daystar’s human development sessions. I can speak for myself because this is my column, there are countless other people who have even bigger and more astounding experiences.

As #ELC2013 starts, make sure to attend if work permits you. If per chance you could not plan well in advance, make sure to get the DVD like I did in 2009. Some successful people make success look like some mysterious evolution but success is not. Success is predictable and it is intentional. It is essentially about following laid out principles and self-application. It is about going the extra-mile and seeing what others cannot or choose not to see. It is about learning at the foot of those who have gone before us. That for me is one reason I am excited to be attending the sessions; being one of the speakers is a bonus, I came to learn. I hope to read your own stories of making moments such as these count. Have my best wishes.

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